Public The Droid Hunger Games | Open

[Toltec]

​

LOCATION

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DENON UNDERWORLD

The Dome

​

A dozen contests stood in a circle around the dome, burlap sacks covering their heads.

Protocol droids were walking behind them, uncovering the bags.​

The Dome, a concrete, brutalism arena, lay tattered with rocks and debris. They were somewhere deep on Denon, district unknown, deep beneath even the furthest recesses of the criminal Underworld that thrived on the capitalistic city planet. High above, a single window pane overlooked the arena and its contestants. Three silhouettes stood in the window, looking down.

A voice, magnified both throughout the arena and the holonet channels the live footage was being blast upon, echoed.

"At the count of ONE,

contestants will fight to the death until one remains.

You will fight.

You will die.

Attempts to circumvent the arena will be met with swift closure.

Put on a performance, for the whole of the Galaxy is watching you."

The camera panned to Toltec's otherworldly visage and metal face.

"Citizens of the Galaxy,

You do not know hunger.

You know the Order of the Sith. The Alliance. The Empire. Governments that tell you how to walk,

where to go. How to act. Step out of line, they are there to put you back in it.

That is how you were raised. To be instructed, to be told. Live a good life, find love, eat until your bellies are full.

Complete the work. For the Empire. For the Order. For the Alliance.

You are more drone than flesh.

You do not live.

You complete the loops as you are instructed.


But today you will know hunger. Today, you will not know peace. Today, you will not know comfort.

I will continue.

Your Jedi, your Grandmasters, your Stormtroopers are not capable of stopping us.

You will capitulate to my edict,

or you will be eaten by your own.

Enjoy the show."


The light began dimming in the Dome. Four doors surrounded the edges of the Dome, north east west and south. Red lights began to slowly illuminate around the them.

F I V E
ENJOY THE SHOW

The window pane went pitch black, engulfing the silhouettes of Toltec and the other droids with him.

Black lights emanated, giving an eerie cold glow to the arena as it darkened.

F O U R
ENJOY THE SHOW

A blue fire erupted in the middle of the Dome. It gave off a cold glow, similar to the black lights.

T H R E E
ENJOY THE SHOW

Chasms, above even the window pane, opened, small boulders dropping into the arena behind the contestants with loud thuds.

T W O
ENJOY THE SHOW

Weapons all of manner were illuminated in the middle of the arena, among barrels of supplies.
This was an obvious objective, as none of the contestants had any inventory amongst them.

OOC: "ONE" will commence Tuesday night (two days from now). Last minute contestants may join by posting within the next 48 hours.
Use them time for introductions into the arena, and observing your surroundings, or perhaps how you were kidnapped.​

​

 

[V01D Ω (Void Omega)]

The man who went by Void Omega slumped in the bed of the inn on Denon. He had just finished a job for a fixer and was taking a rest. He technically did not need rest, but he had a peculiar headache from the voices in his head.

{Show them what we are.}

{No, blend in. Don't let them know. They will never know unless we tell them. It is the perfect disguise!}

The voices just kept speaking over one another. "Shut up!" The man yelled. He did his best to suppress the droid brains within his body. "I'm supposed to be in control. Dammit, I should have been regularly wiping you." He had not expected each one, responsible only for regulating various internal systems, to develop their own consciousnesses. But he could not bring himself to reset them now, not when they had become sentient. "Feth, this is the last thing I need. Voices in my head. I don't even know my own name or what I want to do with my life..."

{We are Void Omega. We can do whatever we want.}

"It isn't that simple. And that's just an alias based off this body's model." The prototype droid V01D Ω had been gifted to him by the owner of a company called Force-Tech. Apparently, the man had been very ecstatic to meet a Shard for the first time, something the actual Shard did not even remember that he was. He had no memories from before waking up in the Library on Woostri in a heavily rusted Juggernaut war droid body. From the generous engineer, he had learned that the Shards had once belonged to a sect of the Jedi Force order called the Iron Knights. It certainly explained the supernatural abilities he had, including hiding the fact that he was not human. But no matter what he tried, he could remember nothing of his old life. So, he tried to make a new life for himself, which was honestly easier said than done.

{This is the new you, the new us. We do not need the old you. We are great as we are now!}

"Are we? Am I? But, I suppose you're right. No use trying to recover what was lost. Even if I did remember, I guess that just isn't who I am now. Might as well embrace the new me. Allright, I am Void Omega."

With that positive affirmation, the voices quieted, content that they were all on the same page. Void shut his eyes, willing himself to sleep. His body may not have needed rest, but his mind certainly did.

Void woke with some kind of cloth bag over his head and loud noises around him. He was definitely not still in his bed at the inn. "What the kark is going on?"

{We seem to have been abducted, but all systems are operating normally.}

"Well, there's that, at least." The sack was removed from his head, and Void looked around. He seemed to be in some kind of arena of sorts with other people who had apparently also been abducted. A voice was booming, calling out a countdown. "Well, this is interesting." He turned to the droid that had evidently walked him in here. "Yo, Choom, the hell's going on here?"

 

[Toltec]

O N E
ENJOY THE SHOW

A blaring horn sounded across the dome, barriers dropping to release the very confused tributes into the fold.​

 

[Sera Rosh]

SPARROW
DOME | DENON
TAG: Toltec | V01D Ω (Void Omega) | Open

HIDE AND SEEK​

What happened?

Last Sera knew, she was making dinner while Dobby was rolling around the house and the next, she woke up in a Force-dampened chamber not long before being led to somewhere with a bag over her head and no weapons.

What chilled her blood slightly was the fact that it was droids.

Many of them.

Had Dobby been in on it?

He wouldn't, would he? He'd been a loyal friend all the years they had known one another. She couldn't even imagine him going along with it willingly. Sera's head was racing as she was made to stand somewhere.

Then a voice spoke.

Sera didn't even need the Force to know something was seriously wrong. As she listened to what was being said, the bag was removed from her head. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and another for her mind to catch up to what she was seeing.

She was in what could only be classified as a large arena. The Jedi Knight had a barrier around her, but she wasn't the only one here. There were others as well that had the same confused expression on their faces as Sera was sure she had as well. This was not looking good at all.

And it got worse...

Lights dimmed as a countdown began, the middle of the arena the only thing illuminated slightly. It was clear where they were supposed to go. Sera sighed. There was still a Force-dampened effect going on. If she seriously had to fight, she'd have to rely on other skills her master had taught her years ago.

Who was this that had such a sick sense of entertainment?

There was no time to figure it out, however, as the countdown finally stopped, a horn sounded and the barrier around her dropped. Sera took a moment to look around again, to watch. To not rush blindly in toward what was beckoning to her. Creuat was one of those Masters that was more focused on action than meditation, but he wasn't a fool either. He taught her to inspect a situation first before tackling the problem. If she could get out of this arena alive, it'll be difficult.

She'd have to stay sharp and in control as much as she could.

"Stay alive and figure out what the hell is going on here." she whispered before taking a breath and running with a wide berth toward the middle, taking cover behind some boulders that had dropped to the floor.

Hoping no one would try and take this seriously.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

There was no dignity in being drugged and taken from your own bed on your own ship by, if chemically impacted memory served, your own droids.

---

So as the cloth bag came off her head, Ashin aimed for dignity above all. Firm posture, eyes level, wearing plain clothes and her own face, a human woman of late middle age. Recognizable to some.

The body she'd worn for decades now was small-batch alchemy by a specialist. It had its upsides. Physical strength wasn't one of them, and with her Force connection partially or wholly dampened - a prospect she had yet to test - she'd need to be careful. The last time she'd died, she'd been cursed, more or less, or cursed herself if she was being honest. Her next death might well be her last. The old avenues were no longer open to her. Something as simple as a well-thrown rock could end her career tonight after, what, almost a century? Here in some droid fanatic's pit?

Probably no Force; no allies; no weapons, tools, armor, mask. Without any of it, at heart she was still who she was. That would have to be enough. It always had been.

Others were welcome to dawdle. Ashin took off at a limping sprint for the nearest half-decent sword.

---

Sera Rosh Big Nick Niamh Berkeley Ferro the Hutt Sam Kolburn Guy P.T. Ghonist Base D V01D Ω (Void Omega) Seiryoku

 

[Sam Kolburn]

DENON
(Post Soundtrack: Human)

Memory was a powerful commodity, almost as precious to a droid as time was to organics. Droids could live virtually forever, but what good is forever if none of the experience is retained? Studied? Archived? Without memories, a droid is as good as dead …

… Sam wasn’t dead, yet, though.

His photoreceptors adjusted to the light when the bag was pulled from his head. Immediately, the android began searching the dome for answers. Anything to tell him where he was or what had happened. There were others, but they were strangers to him. The scattered caches of weaponry around the dome brought about a grim understanding of the expectations: No allies or friends, only opponents.

Sam’s synthetic heart thumped as the countdown commenced. He watched the others for a moment before prioritizing which weapon bag he wanted to collect. The other contestants appeared to be organics, so ion equipment wasn’t a priority. His eyes stopped on the gleaming edge of a silver vibroblade, sharp and reflective with its factory finish untarnished by blood and viscera.

When the countdown reached one, Sam pushed forward with his legs, nearing leaping into the open space ahead. He was racing in a full sprint to reach the sword, hoping to beat Ashin Cardé Varanin and any others in tow.

Tags
- Toltec | Ashin Cardé Varanin -
Proximity
- V01D Ω (Void Omega) | Sera Rosh -​

 

[Ra Vizsla]

Yeah, he wasn't actually Ra.

That had been exposed last time he had tried to help the New Imperial Order, the Mandalorians, with their war efforts and establish new pride for the Clans. This man was just a young man, entrapped in the visage of a dead Mandalorian hero. A hero that had fallen from grace, scorned by his loyal followers, turned away from by his closest of allies. Even Boros, a guard of Ra's on the night the original Ra Vizsla had died, one of the last witnesses alongside the doctor Irajah to see the state of disrepair their former Mand'alor had fallen into due to Sith corruption and mind control. Even he had left him, and it was a scar this new Ra Vizsla would wear for the rest of his life.

After donning his armor, Boros had fought to bring glory back to the name. Under the iron grip of the New Imperial Order, he felt he had done so. The Clans disagreed. Boros, no- Ra had been turned to mercenary work.

And now he stood captive, poisoned and awoken by new captors. Metal captors. Lesser captors.

This would not be the end of legendary Ra Vizsla, icon to the Mandalorians, whether they had forgotten him or not.

Boros began sprinting at full speed towards the stockpiles, spotting the rid crimson of Vizsla's armor poking out of one of the barrels. He was hot on the heels of Sam Kolburn , and was reaching out to grip the manchild by his scruff to toss him down. He was just out of reach, however...

Ashin Cardé Varanin Sera Rosh V01D Ω (Void Omega)

 

[Ferro the Hutt]

Ferro wasn't a good Hutt. Even by Hutt standards.

He was slow to move. Lazy. He spent most of his time balancing the books under greater Hutts, or spending coin at various piracy institutions within the Outer Rim. He would often spend even more coin on hologames and gambling, often live streaming it to a small viewerbase on various gambling nexus sites such as Dopplebangers and JawaJuiced.

Ferro wasn't a good Hutt. He was lazy, he was slow, he possessed very few morals and standards. Very few consequences had ever found their way to him for his inaction or bad actions within life - failed upwards, the other Hutts would say. Ferro believed it was because of his superior management skills and confident demeanor. Definitely not the large inheritance of servant droids, battle droids, and slaves from his criminal enterprised mother after she had passed.

Ferro wasn't a good Hutt.

He was lazy, and he was slow.

And when the Droids captured him, he had provided very little resistance. When the buzzer struck one, and the Dome echoed with the starting noise to run, Ferro froze in place. His mouth opened to scream in sheer terror at what was happening, but he thought he was having a heart attack, and began clutching his chest.

The other contestants were racing by to engage in a battle of survival. Ferro, on the other hand, was such a terrible waste of oxygen that he couldn't muster the courage to even run away. He simply continued to freeze, clutching his chest.

Mother would be proud.

Ashin Cardé Varanin Sera Rosh V01D Ω (Void Omega)

 

[Guy P.T. Ghonist]

Denon
Tags: V01D Ω (Void Omega) , Sam Kolburn , Ferro the Hutt , Ashin Cardé Varanin , Ra Vizsla , Sera Rosh

​

Guy was vigilent. Nothing ever caught him off-guard. His sesnes were far too powerful to ever be bested by a droid. Some, primarily himself, would even argue that he had allowed himself to be captured. His magnificence was, of course, far too great to be overcome. This was all a part of the plan. After all, the people needed a hero, and this pit needed a Guy.

That was the dilusion that he sold himself. Was it real? Not at all, but the only thing that mattered was that he believed it. When Guy emerged, standing amongst the contestants that had been abducted, he stood with the posture of a geriatric king, regal and degenerate. He'd rush into battle, the speed of a crippled steed behind his legs. He saw something that he wanted: A Blade. The man scrambled to aquire the weapon, whipping his greasy head around as he looked to find himself an opponent to claim his first kill.

The Hutt was an obvious choice. They were an evil race with a criminal empire after all. A heroic killing.

"Such cowardice in the face of tribulation," Guy sneered, running his mechanical hand through his unkempt hair. "Lift your head up, Hutt. I shall rid you of your shame by the bite of this steel. An honorable end by a swordsman."

And with that, Guy would go in for the kill, the only force behind the stab he was preparing his own bodyweight.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

The kid sprinted faster than Ashin could limp. As a man thundered along at his heels, Ashin split off toward a different barrel. It was the same one that another man had just used to secure a blade against the Hutt, and they were occupied. And a familiar shape was peeking out from that barrel...

It was a classic and in pretty good shape: a Sith Empire Sienar Army Systems Harpy blaster sniper rifle. Very bulky at ten kilos, only eight shots. The Harpy had its limitations but familiarity might win out. She'd owned one for sixty-five years.

She backed away from the fight toward the outer boulders, which might have surprises in store but gave her some distance from the guaranteed threats. As she moved she checked the blaster's systems and charge, then brought it up. At these ranges she didn't need and didn't use the tri-laser sight. She just aimed the sniper rifle at the obvious targets—

V01D Ω (Void Omega)
Sera Rosh
Sam Kolburn
Ra Vizsla
Guy P.T. Ghonist
and
Ferro the Hutt

—and fired one shot at each of them, center mass. That left her with two shots in the power pack, and a ten-kilo bar of durasteel thereafter.

 

[Seiryoku]

There was no recollection of how he was kidnapped and taken to this pit with other unfortunate souls.

Why he or they were here mattered little to him. All that mattered was who was the strongest of them all. A test to reawaken the primal instincts in their soul; kill or be killed. Something familiar for the Atrisian as he lived his life searching those stronger than him and fighting them, often resulting in a fight to the death.

Should he die here, he’s hope to be killed by a strong, worthy opponent.

What was offered in the center of the arena was of no interest to Seiryoku. He trusted his skills and abilities in the Force. The only thing of interest, however, was the thrill of battle and fate.

He ran and aimed for Guy P.T. Ghonist, an opportunist racing to kill a cowardly Ferro the Hutt . What he saw in Guy was unworthiness; killing someone weaker than him was poor quality for the Atrisian. Unworthy of his time, but they were all entrapped here.

What did call to him, however, was the aura emitting from Ashin Cardé Varanin . Strong with the Force, and he’d hope to fight her after his clash with Guy.

Ra Vizsla | Sera Rosh | Sam Kolburn | V01D Ω (Void Omega)​

 

[V01D Ω (Void Omega)]

-

V01D Ω​

---

The damn droid Void was talking to just completely ignored his question, as the countdown finished and all the barriers separating the combatants dropped. Some stayed where they were, still confused about what was going on. Others stormed out immediately, running for the weapons in the middle and began fighting. Void just strolled out casually.

"Some kind of contest? A forced contest of battle prowess?"

{A quick search suggests this may be a so-called "hunger game."}

"Hunger game? I don't get hungry. Not even sure what that feels like."

{A search on "how hunger feels" yields results of...}

"Never mind that, it isn't important. Not sure what exactly is going on here or why, but we may as well have some fun with it. Something new and different from the standard jobs isn't so bad. Though, I have a feeling we won't really get paid if we win. But sometimes the journey is its own reward. Why do I feel like that phrase is familiar... Oh well." The phrase probably had something to do with his forgotten past, but he just shrugged it off.

{Sniper bolt.} A sniper blaster bolt caught him square in the neck, rocking him on his feet.

"Yeah, thanks. Guess I should be paying attention." The bolt had singed a large wound in the skin and a little bit of the muscle on his neck, but it hadn't reached bone. Nothing to worry about, as it would heal quickly.

Calculation the source of the sniper fire, he scanned the area and the combatants. He activated his thrusters and soared through the air, doing a front flip for fun and landing in front of Ashin Cardé Varanin . "Nice of you to say hello. Allow me to return the greeting." Aiming his right palm at the shooter, he gave a blast of his Mithras Blaster.

---

TAGS: OPEN
Toltec Ashin Cardé Varanin Sera Rosh Sam Kolburn Ra Vizsla Ferro the Hutt Guy P.T. Ghonist Seiryoku
​

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

He activated his thrusters and soared through the air, doing a front flip for fun and landing in front of Ashin Cardé Varanin Ashin Cardé Varanin . "Nice of you to say hello. Allow me to return the greeting." Aiming his right palm at the shooter, he gave a blast of his Mithras Blaster.

So this particular target could take a sniper rifle blast to the neck and walk it off. As V01D Ω (Void Omega) soared, Ashin took stock of what separated her from the Force. There were various means for accomplishing that separation, some more tractable or absolute than others. It didn't feel like ysalamiri or a Force severing technique. She didn't know what the Mandalorian microparasite felt like, the most frightening option, but she discounted it. This specific sensation was the aftermath of an ixetal cilona injection, probably incident to her kidnapping.

For a dizzying moment she was sixteen again, a Jedi Padawan trapped in a sphere and being dosed with Sith Poison. Four other variants had found their way into her blood in the ensuing years. Poison control and detoxification had been, for around two decades, her stock in trade.

She began running an appropriate detox technique in the back of her head. She clung to that mental routine as the enemy touched down and started talking. The ion blast struck her rifle and disabled it instantly, soaking into power cells and circuitry. The extra discharge jolted her down to her toes. She staggered back, off balance—